A Question - please take a moment to respond!

I want to add, currently we are selling our taster size (1/2 ounce pouches) for $4 each. These boxes would contain 12 taster pouches, which has a value of $48. We wouldn’t be going that high, so you would still be getting a better deal for the 12. The price would fall somewhere in between the $29 and the $48.

Whether or not I purchase this will depend on what teas you plan to include. I assume you’ll be drawing from past blends, and that they will be un-announced as to which are inside?

I think it would be more fun to have just some Christmas inspired teas instead of re blends from the past year(s) or the 12 days of Christmas surprise.

I participated in this one years (3 or 4 years ago) and enjoyed it but knew I wouldn’t do it again. At the time it was much cheaper ($15?) and an opportunity to try out a variety of teas that were available for re-purchase. The factors that led to me not doing it again might be specific to me, but at least it’s feedback!

-Didn’t like the teas (too many ingredients I didn’t like and the bases were not great)
-Shipping to Canada was a pain (got there late)
-I like picking my own tea (related to pickiness of ingredients).
-Christmas was too busy a time and the teas came late so I was behind on trying them and missed out on the group experience. After that the samples languished.
-Unlike most Steepsterites, I hate buying samples. The amount wasn’t really enough for two tries, but it was too much for one.

Now I would especially not consider it as the price is (for me) too high even before considering the exchange rate or shipping.

I think your idea of doing it kickstarter style is a good one. It seems like a lot of work and you would want a good return on the investment to go ahead with it.

EDIT: I just did some math. I think of my tea in grams, and with the above range I’m looking at $8.50 – $14 USD for 50 grams. That is the high end of my price range, especially for flavoured teas (because I don’t enjoy them as much as unflavoured, not because they are inferior). I would pay that for a tea I KNOW I love, but not regularly. Add in the exchange rate and Canadians are looking at $11 – $18 CAD for 50 grams (unless the exchange magically improves). That is just too much for me. Especially since I wouldn’t really be buying 50 grams, I’d be buying a total of 170. And there would be shipping costs that I haven’t factored in.

It’s kinda early for this, but I like mint black teas. (Peppermint bark and such.)

I’ve had one of those boxes for the last 3 years, it became a tradition for me to get them since not many places ship things like that to UK. However, last years Christmas box contained sooo many flavours that left me thinking ‘How is that Christmas like?’ and it just ruined it. I vowed not to get another one this year because of that. BUT since it has changed hands I consider all bets are off, so should the opportunity arise for a Christmas box this year I may very well consider it. I wouldn’t mind paying more for an increase in quality but would still have to work out if it’s worth it considering the shipping to UK as well.

So it’s not a yes nor a no, but more of an ‘interested in seeing what happens’ scenario. Though I must say I understood why Frank did it as a Kickstarter last year and that didn’t put me off.

I want to thank you all for your input.

My daughter and I have been talking a little bit and I’ve been thinking A LOT and I don’t know that I’m all that gung ho about doing a batch of 11 more reblends given that I’m near the finish line of doing 15 from the Kickstarter campaign. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving what I’m doing, but it’s a lot of tea to have in stock at one time and I don’t know that I want to do that to myself again.

We do plan on doing something special for Christmas, but, I am very much in agreement with some of the others that have said “it wasn’t very Christmas-y” with the previous boxes. I did the box for a couple of years (maybe even three years) and then I switched to someone else’s Christmas special because as a subscriber, I was getting the same teas and I was already familiar with those. I felt like I wanted the 12 teas to be something different, something Christmas-y and the idea of coming up with 12 teas for Christmas is a little daunting, to say the least. Perhaps in a few years when I’m really feeling that I’ve got this thing down. Ha ha!

I’m still weighing the idea of doing it as a Kickstarter Campaign – because there will be a significant investment involved in buying the equipment. We shall see on that – after a lot more discussion with the boss.

I personally enjoyed it, but it was also pretty annoying that I always got it late because I’m up in Canada and there’s always major shipping delays during the holiday season (and winter in general).

In my personal opinion, I think that doing simple Holiday-themed teas is enough. I missed out on all of Frank’s 12 days of Christmas campaigns, but from what I hear they didn’t perform well. It is a lot for you to take on too! I say stick to the festive weekly blends, perhaps with a special holiday bundle with cute wrappings as gifts?

Orange zest is a dealbreaker ingredient, so if there’s orange/spice or other orange flavoring in an assortment, I’ll skip the purchase entirely.